Hi all -- soon to be 4th year biglawyer here. Found this site very valuable during LS admission process. Have a few questions for anyone who has any experience with SEC work:
(1) Anyone with insight into the application process and how I can make my application standout? Good academic creds (HLS magna, HYP summa)? Besides trying to rack up SEC experience (which has been frustrating, see below...), any other tips? Thinking about trying to write a lot of articles on SEC issues...
(2) For those who have done this transition or know those who have, did they enjoy the experience with the commission? Is it meaningfully better or worse than AUSA?
(3) Does anyone have a sense of the quality of work that comes in regional vs. the DC office? Seems like NY is obviously going to be getting prime work, but what about BOS, CHI, or Philly?
(4) Do you have much control over the work you're doing/how is work assigned? Know anyone stuck doing stuff they don't want to do?
(5) Ideas on exit opportunities? In this regard, is it much better to be in NY or DC?
I've loved the SEC work I've done in BIGLAW, but the assignment system at my firm is so frustrating that I haven't been able to do much of it. I'm hoping to try to transition to the agency to re-focus my career on the kind of stuff I really want to be doing. Realize I need to get a little more experience (will be a rising fourth year in September) so am looking to try to learn about the process and make myself as desirable of a candidate as possible.
BIGLAW to SEC -- Questions Forum
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anonymous2012
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Re: BIGLAW to SEC -- Questions
Not super responsive, but I'd apply for the municipal securities fellow positions just posted. DC work is different in that there is a lot more policy and regulatory work vs enforcement in the field offices. But in my limited govt experience the key is getting an "in." Much easier to move around once you're "in the system."
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Anonymous User
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Re: BIGLAW to SEC -- Questions
I'm a 2L currently interning at the SEC in DC in the Enforcement Division, so I think I can help answer at least to a limited extent some of your questions based on what I've seen this summer. Obviously take what I say with a grain of salt, but this is all just what I've gathered over the past 9 weeks here.
1) Lots of attorneys here talk about how they knew someone at the Commission when they were applying and it helped them get in. While these were all ENF attorneys specifically, I imagine the competitiveness of positions at the SEC make it so those who have connections have a much better shot. That said, extensive SEC-related experience does not appear to be absolutely necessary, as one attorney I've worked for had only done some FCPA stuff before getting hired on. He said he just stressed the skill set related to SEC ENF work and that did the trick. Of course, that's just anecdotal, but at least it shows it's possible.
2 and 4) Literally every attorney I've worked with this summer in the ENF Division seems to love their job, and I've been working under two separate groups of 5-7 attorneys each. Most spent anywhere from 4-7 years in biglaw, mostly here in DC, prior to joining the Commission, and they love it because of the government hours (few people get into the office earlier than 8:30 or 9 and are still in the office past 5:30 or 6) and autonomy. While no one would discuss it openly, obviously, the pay cut also isn't nearly as bad going to the SEC than it would be going to another fed agency on the GS scale, so I imagine that probably helps a good amount as well. When it comes to autonomy, there will always be bureaucracy and that can be frustrating, but from seeing it firsthand, the ENF attorneys are in charge of their own investigations. They issue subpoenas, take testimony, and develop their cases mostly on their own and on a timeline they deem appropriate. While ENF staff attorneys work under Assistant Directors, they are not assigned work from anyone, so they go out and find their own cases from an internal open marketplace of tips, complaints, and referrals the Commission receives, or from a whole bunch of other sources, like using internal databases to find a suspicious trading pattern in a company that announced a merger just recently or finding suspicious 8-Ks, that kinda stuff. Obviously attorneys can't just slack off and not be very active in their investigations, but they are given substantial freedom to investigate as they deem fit.
3) The only work done in the regions is through the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), and ENF, so if you want to do policy work, like rulemaking in the Trading & Markets Division, you have to be in DC. Otherwise, the ENF work is the exact same in DC and the regional offices. You're right that NY is the largest regional office by far, but all offices find cases to investigate via the same internal open market system. If the DC office finds a potential case in Philly before the Philly office does, the DC office investigates it. If the Philly office finds it first, then they investigate it. That's really the only difference in terms of ENF. Having not had any real exposure to OCIE, I'm not really sure what their work is like in the field. The biggest advantage of being in DC, though, is all the training opportunities, the resources available being at HQ, and just the chance to stay more on top of what the Commission itself or other divisions are doing. Even as an intern, I've gotten to sit in on 2 closed Commission meetings, attend an open meeting in which they discussed adopting final rules, and attended like 12 different training sessions. Many of the trainings are VTC to the regions, but I imagine it probably just isn't the same for those on the other end.
5) Lastly, exit options from ENF primarily seem to be to law firms, not in-house. DC biglaw loves to take ENF attorneys after at least a few years at the SEC (the revolving door is definitely a big thing in DC), and I imagine, though it seems to be less common, that NY biglaw would also like SEC ENF attorneys. I bet there's more of NY biglaw transitions from the NY regional office, but that's just a guess. While no doubt it happens that attorneys go in-house after the Commission, it also appears to be uncommon, at least in the DC ENF division. Not sure why that is, but maybe it's because the attorneys can't/don't want to go to companies they previously investigated?
Anyway, hope this helps!
1) Lots of attorneys here talk about how they knew someone at the Commission when they were applying and it helped them get in. While these were all ENF attorneys specifically, I imagine the competitiveness of positions at the SEC make it so those who have connections have a much better shot. That said, extensive SEC-related experience does not appear to be absolutely necessary, as one attorney I've worked for had only done some FCPA stuff before getting hired on. He said he just stressed the skill set related to SEC ENF work and that did the trick. Of course, that's just anecdotal, but at least it shows it's possible.
2 and 4) Literally every attorney I've worked with this summer in the ENF Division seems to love their job, and I've been working under two separate groups of 5-7 attorneys each. Most spent anywhere from 4-7 years in biglaw, mostly here in DC, prior to joining the Commission, and they love it because of the government hours (few people get into the office earlier than 8:30 or 9 and are still in the office past 5:30 or 6) and autonomy. While no one would discuss it openly, obviously, the pay cut also isn't nearly as bad going to the SEC than it would be going to another fed agency on the GS scale, so I imagine that probably helps a good amount as well. When it comes to autonomy, there will always be bureaucracy and that can be frustrating, but from seeing it firsthand, the ENF attorneys are in charge of their own investigations. They issue subpoenas, take testimony, and develop their cases mostly on their own and on a timeline they deem appropriate. While ENF staff attorneys work under Assistant Directors, they are not assigned work from anyone, so they go out and find their own cases from an internal open marketplace of tips, complaints, and referrals the Commission receives, or from a whole bunch of other sources, like using internal databases to find a suspicious trading pattern in a company that announced a merger just recently or finding suspicious 8-Ks, that kinda stuff. Obviously attorneys can't just slack off and not be very active in their investigations, but they are given substantial freedom to investigate as they deem fit.
3) The only work done in the regions is through the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE), and ENF, so if you want to do policy work, like rulemaking in the Trading & Markets Division, you have to be in DC. Otherwise, the ENF work is the exact same in DC and the regional offices. You're right that NY is the largest regional office by far, but all offices find cases to investigate via the same internal open market system. If the DC office finds a potential case in Philly before the Philly office does, the DC office investigates it. If the Philly office finds it first, then they investigate it. That's really the only difference in terms of ENF. Having not had any real exposure to OCIE, I'm not really sure what their work is like in the field. The biggest advantage of being in DC, though, is all the training opportunities, the resources available being at HQ, and just the chance to stay more on top of what the Commission itself or other divisions are doing. Even as an intern, I've gotten to sit in on 2 closed Commission meetings, attend an open meeting in which they discussed adopting final rules, and attended like 12 different training sessions. Many of the trainings are VTC to the regions, but I imagine it probably just isn't the same for those on the other end.
5) Lastly, exit options from ENF primarily seem to be to law firms, not in-house. DC biglaw loves to take ENF attorneys after at least a few years at the SEC (the revolving door is definitely a big thing in DC), and I imagine, though it seems to be less common, that NY biglaw would also like SEC ENF attorneys. I bet there's more of NY biglaw transitions from the NY regional office, but that's just a guess. While no doubt it happens that attorneys go in-house after the Commission, it also appears to be uncommon, at least in the DC ENF division. Not sure why that is, but maybe it's because the attorneys can't/don't want to go to companies they previously investigated?
Anyway, hope this helps!
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Anonymous User
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Re: BIGLAW to SEC -- Questions
This is fantastically helpful. Thank you.
Do you have any sense of whether it is possible (and if so, how difficult) to transfer offices once you are in the SEC?
Do you have any sense of whether it is possible (and if so, how difficult) to transfer offices once you are in the SEC?
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Anonymous User
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- Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2009 9:32 am
Re: BIGLAW to SEC -- Questions
As far as I'm aware, it's not terribly difficult once openings in a different office pop up, but I have to admit I have had very little exposure to this over the summer. One attorney in one of the groups I've been assigned to transferred to DC from the Miami office, and I've heard of others coming and going between NY and DC, so it certainly happens. I would guess, though, that it's just a function of the size of the relevant office you're hoping to transfer to and whether they have a need for more/new attorneys. This might be stating the obvious as well, but transferring also seems to be dependent on one's reasons for transferring, like a spouse, and how long you've been with the Commission. Again, though, this is probably the one question I have not learned much about at all in my time here, so definitely take this with a grain of salt. Of course, I hope it helps anyway!
Edit: Woops, meant to go anon. Oh well.
Edit: Woops, meant to go anon. Oh well.
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